Lottery

ARTICLES ABOUT LOTTERY BY DATE - PAGE 5

WASHINGTON COUNTY - A $1 million winning Maryland Lottery ticket was sold at McNamee's Tavern in Fairplay, and somebody purchased a $50,000 winning ticket at Valley Mall near Hagerstown. The Countdown to Millions winning numbers were announced Monday night. The winners had not come forward as of Tuesday afternoon, said Gail Pelovitz, public affairs officer for the Maryland State Lottery Agency. After taxes, the payout for the $1 million ticket is $672,500, and the payout for the $50,000 ticket is $33,625, Pelovitz said.

The Hagerstown Police Department warns the public against a lottery scam that has already cost a few city residents thousands of dollars, according to a written release from Sgt. Paul Kifer. Kifer wrote that victims have received mail indicating they've won the lottery from outside the United States, such as the "Swiss Lotto, British Lotto and Canadian Lotto, etc. " The letter appears to be a "certificate of award" and instructs the recipient to take the accompanying check, which is usually for about $3,000, cash it and pay taxes and clearance fees to a lottery agent, Kifer wrote.

HAGERSTOWN A Mega Millions lottery ticket worth $250,000 was sold at a Hagerstown grocery store, but the holder of the ticket has not yet claimed the prize, state lottery officials announced Wednesday. The winning numbers - 5, 29, 35, 52, 53 and 9 - were drawn Tuesday night. While nobody won the jackpot, six people won the $250,000 prize given to those who matched all but the Mega Ball, Maryland Lottery spokeswoman Gail Pelovitz said. One of those tickets was purchased at Weis Market, 31 N. Eastern Blvd.

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. - A Martinsburg restaurateur jumped through 33 hoops Tuesday on her way to receiving approval from the city's zoning board to install video lottery machines in her restaurant, after arguing that her application was filed before the adoption of a new ordinance regulating them. The city's Board of Zoning Appeals voted 4-1 to approve a request by Red Wolf Grill manager Cherry Crawford for 33 variances from requirements of the city's new video lottery ordinance to install three limited video lottery machines in the restaurant she operates at 131 S. Queen St. The board made the decision despite an opinion by the group's legal counsel, who told them the machines must aleady be in use to be exempted from the new regulation.

CLEAR SPRING After about a month spent losing a Maryland Lottery game at $20 a ticket, retired Washington County science teacher Bonnie Forsyth counted her losses and mailed losing scratch-offs back to the lottery for a second chance. Her losing tickets paid off: The 57-year-old Clear Spring woman has been named a finalist in the $20 Million Mania second-chance contest, which means she could win a $2 million prize if she's picked out of five finalists in a May 28 drawing.

HAGERSTOWN The first jackpot winner of Multi-Match, Maryland's new Lotto-style game, bought the winning ticket in Hagerstown. The $2.8 million ticket was sold Saturday at Wooden Keg Liquors on Jefferson Boulevard in Hagerstown, according to Carole Everett, spokeswoman for Maryland Lottery. The prize had not been claimed by late Monday. Multi-Match began Feb. 4 and replaced Classic Lotto, which ran for more than 23 years, Everett said. "(Multi-Match) focuses on a lot more winners, as opposed to the jackpot," Everett said.

RANSON, W.VA. A Ranson convenience store clerk faces possible jail time and as much as $6,000 in fines after police say she tried to claim a $20,000 prize from the West Virginia Lottery, according to Jefferson County Magistrate Court records. Misty Ann Crawford, 26, of 28 Windswept Lane, is charged with forgery, counterfeiting, etc., (of a) lottery ticket. She also is charged with larceny of bank notes, checks and writings of value and book accounts and obtaining money, property and services by false pretenses, court records state.

charlestown@herald-mail.com SUMMIT POINT, W.Va. - Proposals to allow video lottery machines at two small grocery stores in Jefferson County - one on the Blue Ridge Mountain and one in Summit Point - has generated opposition from area residents. Both proposals go before the Jefferson County Zoning Board of Appeals for consideration Thursday afternoon. In Summit Point, Kery Fries said Mack Hooe wants to open a grocery store in a building Fries owns along Summit Point Road and install five state-regulated video lottery machines in the establishment.

MARTINSBURG, W.VA. martinsburg@herald-mail.com A Martinsburg restaurateur's placement of video lottery machines could cost him his full purse, and then some, if a city court rules to fine the establishment for each day the machines were in operation. Tatra Restaurant Inc. owner Carter Craft said the revenue he earned from the five video lottery machines installed in an upstairs room of the Counsellor's Grill pales next to the $300-a-day fines he could face if the city's Municipal Court rules against him. The restaurant grossed $2,534 on more than $14,800 played on the machines during the two months they were in operation last year, according to the West Virginia Lottery Commission's Limited Video Lottery Monthly Revenue Web page.

It is not for money or prizes, but Hagerstown City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to create a lottery system to sell some used fire alarm boxes for $100 each. Over the past two years, the city has been shutting down its Gamewell Fire Alarm system boxes in favor of a new system, and while they vary in condition and will be sold "as is," Public Works Manager Eric B. Deike said he expects the units will be in high demand. "We're concerned that there's a lot more interest in it than we have boxes, so we're proposing a lottery," Deike said.